Timeform take a look back over the recent history of the Dubai World Cup meeting… “Not surprisingly given the prizes on offer, the meeting has taken no time at all to establish itself as one of the highlights of the Flat racing calendar, even though it takes place before the European season has begun in earnest.” As the saying goes, ‘if you build it, they will come’, but so far as the Dubai World Cup meeting is concerned we might well add something along the lines of ‘and if you cough up seven figure purses, they definitely will.’ For fourteen years now, the best racehorses from all around the globe have been lured to the desert, first to Nad Al Sheba and now to Meydan, for the richest meeting in the world . Not surprisingly given the prizes on offer, the meeting has taken no time at all to establish itself as one of the highlights of the Flat racing calendar, even though it takes place before the European season has begun in earnest. The World Cup itself has consistently drawn strong fields since Cigar won the inaugural renewal in 1996 . Indeed, since then the lowest Timeform rating recorded by a winner of the World Cup was 127, while no fewer than six winners ran to a figure of 130 or greater, the mark of genuinely top-class ability. The best of those was Dubai Millennium, who ran to 140 when lowering his own track record at Nad Al Sheba in 2000 . Dubai Millennium is one of five winners in the race for Saeed bin Suroor, along with Almutawakel, Street Cry, Moon Ballad and Electrocutionist. However, the main trend over the years the World Cup has taken place at Nad Al Sheba is the excellent record of American horses. Historically, several winners have arrived in Dubai via the Breeders’ Cup Classic, with Cigar, Pleasantly Perfect, Invasor and Curlin all tasting victory in the both races
